2015 QPR Suicide Prevention Training

Thank you for gathering with us for a valuable and supportive afternoon

Highlights

On Thursday, October 15, 2015, dozens of Reiki practitioners gathered at the Newton Free Library to be trained as QPR Gatekeepers.

To better equip ourselves to be of assistance to someone who expresses thoughts about suicide, Celebration of Reiki, Inc. brought QPR Suicide Prevention Training to the Reiki community to strengthen and support us in the work we do.

We learned to:

Recognize the warning signs of suicide

Know how to offer hope

Know how to get help and save a life

Our families and communities have been affected by suicide. As Reiki practitioners, we have had relationships with clients who voice thoughts about suicide. ​The more people who know how to act, the more lives may be saved. ​

Testimonials

The QPR Training gave me confidence and trust in myself that I can intervene with sensitivity and skill when someone is contemplating ending their life.I learned specific approaches to actually asking someone a direct question about whether they are thinking about killing themselves. I don’t think I could have done this before taking the training.I thought the P in QPR was the most challenging piece. The P stands for Persuade, and it was all about how to persuade someone to stay alive.I thought the “wall of resistance to suicide” was very helpful. Learning about the factors that are protective will keep me extra aware in cases when those protective factors begin to weaken in the lives of people I know.The QPR training gave me courage and the language to use to offer hope to others.It was helpful to get some practical tips on when it is necessary and appropriate to call 9-1-1.

I had to unlearn many untruths about suicide that I had believed such as:

No one can stop a suicide, it is inevitable

Confronting a person about suicide will only make them angry and increase the risk of suicide

Suicidal people keep their plans to themselves

Once a person decides to complete suicide, there is nothing anyone can do to stop them

While 9,000,000 people thought about suicide in the US in 2013, 38,000 completed suicide, which meant to me that we can make a difference.

I learned that some of the language I use to discuss suicide is not helpful.

I became much more clearly aware of suicide clues and warning signs, including being able to discern direct verbal cues, indirect verbal cues, behavioral clues, and situational clues.

I felt much more informed and empowered to take positive action and responsibility when I become aware of people who are really struggling.

Thank you to all who made this event possible!

The Celebration of Reiki, Inc. is grateful to Newton Cares: Coalition for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, the organization that works diligently to train as many people as possible in the suicide prevention technique called QPR.

The Celebration of Reiki, Inc. is classified as an IRC Section 501 (C) (3) educational organization. Donors can deduct contributions they make to the Celebration of Reiki, Inc. under IRC Section 170. ​​Privacy Policy